The days of claiming your checked bags from an international flight and rechecking in the same for a connecting domestic flight in the US are numbered. Isn’t it good for family travelers with kids and unaccompanied elderly travelers in particular? The comfort of traveling on international nonstop flights to USA fades into the hassles of retrieving checked baggage only to be rechecked in for domestic connection at the port of entry. Walking to the baggage claim area, waiting for your bags at the assigned carousel, dragging the bags to recheck in only after rescreening – it’s quite overwhelming at major US airports.
Not anymore! American Airlines became the world’s first and only carrier with a breakthrough initiative eliminating the above tiring process for its inbound passengers flying into the US. American Airlines’ International Remote Baggage Screening (IRBS) program streamlines international arrival and domestic connection to a great extent by enabling thorough baggage transfer from international to domestic flights for low-risk travelers.
How AA’s International Remote Baggage Screening works
Introduced in collaboration with the US Customs and Border Protection, the baggage claim and recheck-in elimination program is currently under trial for AA passengers flying to Los Angeles International Airport from Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport. Successful completion of the pilot trial would roll out the program to other hub airports and destinations of American Airlines, including New Delhi in India.
If this program expands to India for American Airlines’ New Delhi to New York flights, Indians would largely benefit from the IRBS program. leveraging advanced technology, CBP officers would remotely review the X-ray images of your bags checked in at New Delhi Airport and clear the bags for direct transfer to your final destination in the US before you actually arrive at John F. Kennedy Airport. No need to collect and recheck in your checked bags if nothing suspicious is detected during a remote review and the bags are not marked for further inspection by CBP.
Also, layovers shorter than 2 hours may suffice for international to domestic connections in the US, with the baggage claim and recheck-in process being eliminated. You would simply go through immigration clearance and TSA screening with your carry-on bag before heading straight to the scheduled connecting flight. Your checked bags would meet you at the final destination in the US.
Also Read: British Airways’ new airport service in 5 Indian languages
A 2019 survey conducted by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) revealed that nearly 60% of passengers cited baggage claim and recheck-in as a major pain point. Besides, the entire process of claiming, rescreening, and rechecking bags increases the risks of baggage mishandling and the likelihood of missing connecting flights, mainly during peak travel seasons. Given the hassles of international travel, American Airlines’ International Remote Baggage Screening program promises to make the arrival process utterly seamless and set a new benchmark for passenger comfort.
At an India-US aviation summit in June 2024, the US TSA administrator tabled a proposal to India for one-stop security, aiming to end post-arrival screening of international passengers flying between the two countries. The one-stop security agreement refers to the foolproof screening of passengers and their bags at departure airports or ports of travel origin, so that they have a seamless arrival experience without additional security checks in destination countries.
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